


The Man You Choose To Be

by Telana



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Rose is Female My Unit, post chapter 14
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 14:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6380149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telana/pseuds/Telana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Chapter 14 in Conquest. Basically, a rewrite of the romance scene with Niles to fit when it happened for me in-game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Man You Choose To Be

Rose flopped down on her bed with a groan. She had spent countless hours directing soldiers to search larders and broom closets for hidden singers at the opera house, carefully guiding them away from plausible escape routes. It was as Leo had said; the king cared only that the effort was made and that blood was spilt. Hans and Iago had more than enough bloodlust to satisfy him.

Gods, it was too much. Rose buried her head into her pillow, suppressing a sob. How many times would she have to swallow her conscience to do her father’s bidding? How many lives would she have to order taken before the war with her brothers and sisters would end?

A gentle knock came from the door and Rose was tempted to ignore it. She wouldn’t. There were only friends and allies here and Rose sorely needed a friend to confide in.

“Come in,” she called weakly, rolling over and drying her face with her sleeves. She sat up just in time to see Niles, her brother Leo’s retainer, enter tentatively.

“Is everything ok?” he asked slowly, though he was certain nothing was. He’d thought to check in on Rose, bring her something warm to drink from the mess hall, and maybe cheer her up, if needed. Gods knew why she seemed to enjoy his endless taunts, but if that’s what it took, so be it.

“I,” Rose hesitated, mouth hanging open slightly before she shook her head. “I know what Leo said is true. Openly defying Father as I have solves nothing and saves no one.”

“And yet you do,” Niles said, setting down the steaming mug he’d been holding. He eased his way over to Rose and sat down next to her on the bed.

“Because it’s wrong!” Rose nearly shouted, choking back another sob. “He treats all these people like pawns. No, worse than that. He acts like their lives are less than nothing and cares only for how much land he amasses. And he kills anyone that dares to think otherwise.”

Rose curled into herself, cursing her lack of self-control. This wasn’t how she wanted Niles to see her; broken and afraid of the man she’d chosen to be her father. She had to stay strong. There were too many lives depending on her choices. She could not let them down.

Niles sighed and pulled Rose over into his shoulder. He waited for her face to flush, for the panic of being so close to him to set in, but it never did. She just dug her face in deeper, sobbing against his cloak.

“Hey, easy,” Niles soothed softly, rubbing Rose’s back. He had no idea what to say that would help her calm down. For that matter, Niles wasn’t certain there was anything that could calm her down. So, he just held her close, leaning his cheek against her hair, occasionally whispering in her ear that everything was going to be all right. Even though they both knew it was a lie.

Niles tried to ignore the pounding in his chest and the urge to lean in closer and kiss her. Gods, it was difficult to resist. His heart ached and longed to quiet her sobs and dry her tears. The way she clung to him, trembling violently, tested his restraint in ways he hadn’t thought possible. What had this tiny princess done to him?

Minutes turned to hours and eventually Rose’s sobs slowed to sniffles. She still clung to Niles like a lifeline, as if losing that connection would drown her.

“Maybe,” she whispered, barely loud enough for Niles to hear, “I should have stayed in Hoshido. Maybe they’re right about Nohr.”

Niles pulled his head back to look Rose in the eye. Her cheeks were swollen and stained with tears and snot and she looked away for just a second, embarrassed that she’d become such a mess in front of him. To Niles, though, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d seen.

Who else would weep for strangers slaughtered in a war? Who else would stand against a man so clearly a tyrant, even if it meant her own death? Niles bit the inside of his lip at the thought. Rose would not hesitate to throw herself between a blade and an innocent. That much was just a simple fact. He’d had to save her more times than he could count, blocking spears and swords alike with the steel of his bow. He’d honed his ability to snipe out danger in the distance not to benefit the army, but to protect his innocent fool.

“If you stayed with Hoshido, I might never have met you,” Niles reminded her, his trademark teasing smile spreading across his face. “And who else would I have to hold at night if you weren’t here?”

Rose’s face turned bright red, but, instead of pulling away, she buried her face in Niles’s cloak again. He was right. Lewd implications aside, he was right. Had she chosen to remain with Hoshido, Rose would never have met many of her friends. She might not have been there to save Elise.

“Y-you shouldn’t say things like that,” Rose stammered when she finally pulled away from Niles’s cloak. “I’m supposed to trust you, remember? Or, well, we aren’t supposed to lie to each other, right? That’s how the whole trust thing happens.”

“You don’t believe I want to hold you every night?” Niles teased, cupping Rose’s cheek in his hand. Well, half-teased. The truth was, he’d thought about a great deal more than simply holding her. Under normal circumstances, with any other person, that would have meant just sex. Perhaps it was how eagerly she listened, let him tell his story and tried to understand where he came from that made Niles greedy. He wanted more than just to lie with her; he wanted to be hers in whatever way she would have him.

“I-I’m sure you would, but,” Rose paused, her eyes darting around his face. What was that look he was giving her? “But I can’t just-" Rose groaned and buried her face in his shoulder again.

“Would it help if I made an honest woman of you first?” Niles asked, careful not to sound too serious. He waited as patiently as he could, feeling Rose dig her head further into his shoulder. Maybe he shouldn’t have pressed her. It could’ve waited until morning or for a few days.

“Do you mean it?” Rose asked softly, turning her face to look up at Niles from his shoulder. “Please. Please tell me this isn’t another one of your jokes, Niles.” Her heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

Niles’s eyes widened, unbelieving. He couldn’t help himself; before he could even acknowledge the thought in his head, Niles’s lips were on Rose’s. Without hesitation, Rose snaked her arms around Niles’s neck, running her fingers up the back of his scalp eagerly. Niles shuddered under her touch, but it only served to make him crave more. His kiss became more heated, insistent, nearly begging Rose to never let him go.

Feeling just a bit faint, Rose pulled back and gasped for air. Niles chuckled softly, admiring the look on her face. She’d been flushed before, but, if it weren’t for the tear stains on Rose’s cheeks, Niles wouldn’t have been able to tell she’d been crying. He hoped the look of contentment on her face was his doing.

“I mean it, Rose,” Niles said softly. “You’re the first person who ever trusted me completely, even knowing my past. Even Leo was wary of me when he first took me on as his retainer.” Niles felt his face redden and averted his eyes. “You just,” he struggled to find the right words, “you never judged me for my past, even though I chose to do terrible things.”

“No one can help what they’re born into,” Rose reassured him.

“And that’s exactly it!” Niles smiled fondly, brushing Rose’s bangs out of her eyes. “That is exactly why I love you. You could dwell on all the evil in the world, but you choose to see the good in everyone. Even someone like me.”

“You _are_ good, Niles,” Rose insisted. “You’ve saved my life countless times.”

“Which is part of my job,” Niles interjected with a playful smile.

“And saved countless others, even when you had no orders to do so,” Rose continued, pretending to ignore him. “You do the right thing because that is the sort of man you choose to be now.” She slid a hand down to Niles’s chest. “You might’ve chosen to lie and cheat and steal and kill in the past, but who you choose to be now is who I care about. That’s who I want to spend my life with.”

Niles shook his head, a slight smile on his lips, and burst into laughter. She was just too much, he concluded. His precious, naïve princess was more than he could ever hope to have in his life, yet here she was, proclaiming her undying love in the sweetest way he could imagine.

“You have no idea what you’re getting into, do you?” Niles pulled Rose close until her face rested against his chest. She shook her head slightly and Niles chuckled, drawing a line down her back with one finger. Rose gasped and clung to him tightly, shivering from his touch. “Good.”


End file.
